RISE OF THE MACHINES

Not to cause a state of panic amongst everyone, but we are under the control of the machines. No, not Skynet from Terminator 2, the computer that sets an attack on itself to cause the nuclear missiles to launch, resulting in a nuclear holocaust on earth.

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, but we've become so reliant on these technologies, that they've actually made our lives that much more difficult.

A few weeks ago my Blackberry decided to stop working. I could scroll through all the different functions but I couldn't actually choose a function. So basically, I had a paperweight. A. Very. Expensive. Paperweight.

But, that was the least of my worries. That day was also the day I was let go from my place of employment. The first thing that a friend advised me to do was to let everyone in my network know that I hunting for work. Small problem. Everyone in my network was in my Blackberry. My non-working Blackberry.

Thankfully, I had a few key e-mail addresses memorized, but some of those friends and contacts were useless because their electronic address books were out of date.

We've become so reliant on technology, that it has actually taken us prisoner. No one knows anyone's phone number anymore. Why should they? Almost everyone has a cellphone or PDA where they store everyone's phone numbers.

And that's if you actually call anyone. Fifteen years ago, I had the phone numbers of the friends that I would call memorized. Now, not so much. I have their e-mail addresses memorized. Well, most of the address memorized. I can't always remember if they use their first name or just their first initial. So I constantly find myself scrolling through my Blackberry to look up their e-mail addresses. Once again, I'm at the mercy of the machines.

Even this, I'm criticizing society's reliance on machines on a machine. I need the computer to write this and spread the word on how machines are controlling our everyday lives. Oh, the irony!

Maybe, there really is a Skynet, and it is slowly conspiring to take over the world and destroy us all by making us reliant on smaller machines at first. I better go tell everyone I know. Now, where's my Blackberry...